Slat-support for upholstery



IVI. STADTLEH.

SLAT SUPPORT FOR UPHOLSTERY.

APPLICAUON FILED MAR. 24, 1919.

Patented July M9 ww.,

2 SHEETS-SHEET IVI. STADTLER.

SLAT SUPPORT FOR UPHOLSTERY.

APPLICATION man MAR. 24. 1919.

@muted July E13, wml

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2`.

@www E* @Wwf- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MATHIAS STADTLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SLAT-SUPPORT FOR UPHOLSTERY.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, MATHIAS STADTLER, a citizen of' the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Slat-Supports for Upholstery, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to upholstery cushions, including those for use in settees, divans, couches, chairs, beds and the like. When upholstered articles are made to order or repaired the customer is frequently disappointed to find the article stiffer or softer than expected. The degree of stiffness is, of course, a matter of individual taste, and cannot very' well be measured by any definite standard, and hence the manufacturer or repairer has no accurate means of knowing beforehand what will best suit the particular customers taste. To change the degree of stiffness, however, after the article is finished,.is practically speaking, impossible except by the expenditure of aboutv as much time and labor as was required to produce the upholstery in the first place. The general object of my inventionis to provide means whereby the degree of stiffness of the upholstery may be quickly and easily varied to -suit the requirements of the customer after the article is finished. In carrying out my invention I. provide fneans whereby the slats which support the springs may be adjusted vertically after the upholstery is finished. By preference the l slatsare adjustable individually whereby different degrees of resilience may be obtained at different parts of the cushion and different' amounts of wear at different parts of the cushion may be compensated for. I may employ wooden, metal or fabric slats, and a contributory object of the invention is to provide means for tightening the slats when metalor fabric ones' are employed.

My invent-ion is .applicable to the seat cushions and to the back cushions ef settees, couches, divans, chairs, and other articles of so called parlor furniture, and also to mattresses of the type'usually referred to as box springs.

I have chosen to illustrate the invention in the form more specifically applicable to mattresses or to seat .cushions, in the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the principle of the invention.

Figurey l is aplan view of a portion of the Specification of Letters Patent. Patented July 13, 192() Application filed March 24, 1919.

serial No. 284,(551.

structure including one of the upholstery springs, a slat which supports it, and a portion of the side rail which supports the slat.

This figure also indicates the position of the frame of the bed or other article of furniture in which the cushion or mattress is mounted. The plane of section is indicated by 1 1, Fig. 2. The slat shown in this figure and in Figs. 2 to L inclusive, is of wood. 65

or key which may be employed to secure the end of the slat to the rack.

Fig. 6 is a perspective View showing theend portion of a modified form of slat. In

this form the slat is of sheet metal and has a plain eye at the end similar to the eye employed for the wood slat shown in Figs.

l to 4.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a steel or fabric slat capable of being tightened.

Fig. 8 is a perspectivel view of the lock- 85 ing bar applicable to the type of slat shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a. vertical section' through the holes of the rack shown in Fig. 7

Fig. l0 is a vertical section on the line 90 10-10, Fig. 9.

Like numerals denote like parts throughout the several views.

In the form selected to illustrate the invention my structure is supported in a suitable frame Work such, for example, as the frame having the side or front board 1 which carries the supporting ledge 2. Resting upon the supporting ledge are slats 3 of which two are usually sufiicient; one near one end of the structure and the other near the other. are not intimately associated with the principle of the invention. They simply form a support for the spring cushion which does These parts are standard and,4

embody my invention and which will now be described.

nieferring first to the form shown 1n Figs. 1 to -LL inclusive employing a wooden slat,

my device contains a set of ordinary upholster)7 springs 5, the lower or rear ends of which are supported or backed up by the slats 6. These slats are adjustably mounted upon side rails 7 which are located at the margins of the cushion. While the form of connection may be varied, a suit-- able type is sho-wn in Figs. 3 and 4 in which the rail 7 is provided with a rack 10 on its inner side, said rack being rigidly secured to the rail and having wings 11, 11 in which are formed apertures 12 arranged in vertical rows and adapted to receive a key such as'the cotter pin 13, shown in Fig. 5. The wings 11 are spaced apart at a proper distance to easily accommodate t-he end of the slat between them and when a wooden slat is employed, it is desirable to place a metallic insert 15 in its ends to strengthen the construction. This insert lies in a suitable rabbet formed in the end of the slat, the insert having an eye 16 for accommodating the key 13. The slat and its insert are securely bound together and strengthened by doWel pins 17 or similar fastening devices. Tt will be evident that as a result of this construction the slat may be supported at any desired eleva-tion on the side rails 7.

The upper or forward ends of the springs 5 are anchored to the side rails and while this may be accomplished in somewhat different ways, T have shown a construction in which a strip 20 of webbing, canvas or other stout fabric is secured by nails 21 or' other suitable fastening means to the bottom of rail 7. Said strip passes from the bottom of the rail up along the side of it and by preference is secured to a corner rod 22 which followsthe `fmargin of the cushion and imp arts a more shapely and definite outline to it. The strip 2O passes thence over the top of the springs to the opposite side of the cushion where it is secured to the opposite side rail in the manner just described. The strips or tapes 2O are preferably arranged both crosswise and lengthwise of the cushion and may be secured to the springs in any suitable manner for example as shown in my prior Patent No. 1,254,285 issued January 22, 1918. Itvwill-be understood, of course, that under ordinary circumstances there willbe also an outer covering of fabric extending over the exposed portions of the cushion. For the sake of clearness this outer cover is omitted from the drawings and may be omitted from the article.

The practical utility of my invention will now be readily understood. The strips or tapes 20 are, of course, anchored to the rails 7 in the factory or work room, and give a denite height to the cushion. Tf, upon inspection by the customer, the cushion is considered to be t'oo soft, all that is necessary is to withdraw the keys 13 and elevate the slats 16 to a higher elevation in the rack 10. After the slats have been thus adjusted, the cushion will be found to be stiffer, the degree of stiffness depending upon the height to which the slats have been adjusted. Conversely, if the cushion is thought to be too stiff, the slats may bel lowered. Ordinarily, the maker or-` repairer will so arrange the structure that a normal degree of stiffness will be obtained when the slats are about in middle position in the racks, thus affording opportunity either to raise or lower the slats cushion is to be employed. Thus the degree of stiffness of the cushion may be varied without changing the proportions and relations which the cushion should properly bear to the supportingframe for which the cushion is designed to be used. Another advantage resulting from my invention is that a cushion constructed upon the principle I have described differs in no wise in appearance from cushions of ordinary standard t e.

yls above indicated it is not necessary that the slats which support the upholstery springs be made of wood. They may be made of sheet metal or even of canvas, duck or similar heavy fabric. In Fig. 6 I have shown a strip 6al which may be regarded as of either sheet metal or fabric, the slat having a loop or eye 16a at the end formed by turning the material back upon itself. In the case of metal the back turned portion may be secured to the body portion by riveting, soldering or other means well known to metal workers, or in the case of fabric, by riveting, stitching or other expedient well known to cloth workers.

Now referring to the type of slat and fastening device sho`wn in Figs. 7 to 9:

The slat 25 is flexible, being of sheet metal or fabric. One end is preferably as shown in Fig. 6, the other end being passed through the key 13 and then wound upon the key by turning the key in the rack as shown in Figs. 7, 9 and 10. After a turn or two has been wrapped around the key the material, whether of metal or webbing will be securely held and the tension may be adjustedby turning the key. The key is locked against rotation by means of a locking rod 27 shown separately in perspective in Fig. 8. This rod has an armA 28 which passes between the leaves of the key and thus prevents it from rotating. The shank of the rod passesv through holes adjacent to the ones that support the .key and at the end opposite to arm 28 is provided with a detent 30. Said detent is pivoted tothe ,rod and when extended, in line with the rod will pass through the holes, but when they detent is thrown back as 'shown in full lines in Figs. 7', 8 and 9, will If at any time the slat becomes loose, as av result of use or otherwise, the slack may be taken up by withdrawing the locking rod, giving the key another turn or two or as many as may be necessary to tighten the slat and then replacing the locking rod.

In the following claims it will be understoodthat by the term cushion I include spring structures for use in beds, as well as for use in upholstering furniture.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A spring cushion for use in furniture,

having upholstery springs, side rails fory supporting the cushion, flexible means for y anchoring the forward end'of the springs to the side rails, slats for supporting the springs, and racks mounted on the rails for supporting the ends of 'the slats, said racks having side Wings for preventing motion of the slats lengthwise of the rails, and said slats being adjustable in said rails for varying the tension of the springs. y

2. A spring cushion for use in furniture, having upholstery springs, side rails for supporting the cushion, flexible means for anchoring the forward end of the springs to the side rails, slats for supporting the springs, and racks mounted on the rails for supporting the ends of the slats, the slats having an eye in the end for receiving a key at different distances from the front face of the cushion.

3. A cushion having an upholstery spring, a side rail, a flexible slat' for supporting the spring, a rotatable key mounted in the side rail for varying the tension of the Slat, and means for holding the key against rotation.

4. A cushion having an upholstery spring, a side rail, a rack mounted on the side rail, a flexible slatl for supporting the spring, a key rotatably mounted in the rack and adapted to engage the slat and to tighten it when the key is rotated, and a locking rod carried by the rack for preventing the rotation of the key.

5. A cushion having an upholstery spring, a side rail, a rack mounted on the side rail, a iexible slat for supporting the spring, fa

key journaled in the rack and having a slot through which the ends of the slat may be inserted, and a locking rod adapted to prevent rotation of the key, said rod being supported by the side rai 6. A cushion having an upholstery spring, a flexible slat for supporting the spring, a side rail, a rack wherein the key is rotatably mounted, said key being split whereby the ends of the slat may beinserted into it, and

means for preventing the rotation of the`- A?. cushion having an upholstery spring, a. flexible slat forv supporting the spring, a side rail, a rack having wings wherein the ,key is rotatably mounted, said key being split whereby the ends of the slat may be inserted into it, and a locking bar also adapted to be mounted in the rack, said bar havinggan arm adapted to be inserted between the leaves of the key for preventing rotation thereof.

8. A cushion having an upholstery spring, a flexible slat for supporting the spring, a side rail, a rack on said rail having wings provided with a series of holes one above the other, a key adapted to be journaled inl the holes of the rack, said key being adapted to engage the end of the slat to tighten the slat when the key is rotated, and a locking rod adapted to be supported in other holes in the rack, said rod having an arm for entering the slot of the-key and preventing rotation thereof.

9. A cushion having an upholstery spring, a flexibleslat for supporting the spring, a side rail, a rack mounted on the rail, said rack having holes arranged vertically to serve as bearings, a key journaled in the holes, said key being adapted to engage the end of the slat to tighten it when the key is rotated, a locking rod adapted .to be passed through holes in the rack adjacent to the key, and a detent pivoted to the rod, said detent in one position being adapted to pass through the holes in the rack and in another position being adapted to prevent the rod from being withdrawn from the Marinas sfrAD'rLER. 

